Wool combing machine



1951 w. E. CHRISTENSEN ETAL 2, ,767

WOOL COMBING MACHINE Filed May 2, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Pi g.l

- INVENTORS I 1 WWWA nw W. E. CHRISTENSEN ETAL Oct. 9, 1951 I WOOLcon/name MACHINE Patented Oct. 9, 1951 UNITED: STATES 'FFECE.

7 Claims: (01.. 19-423) 1 This invention relates to new: and improvedwool combing machines,. particularly of the Nobleitype, thesemachinesbeingrelatively large and:heavysin construction-and; embodying alarge pinzcircleand twossmall pin:circles, incooperation with a veiticalhigh-speedreciprocating brushy. preparing the: wool for combing .asdisclosed in Patent No. 1,845,351, February 16, 1932, this patentdisclosing improvements in the roll adjustment; and. attention is :alsodirected to Patent No. 1,026,058, Mayrl, 1912, for further disclosures.of. prior art machines. of the type herein. referred to.

In the prior art ithasbeen customary to drive the above referred 1 tobrushrby; outboard means adjacentthe circumference-of the large pincircle from an overhead driven shaft,- the vlatterin turnbeingdrivenirom a main shaft and having. a belt shifter approximately.-at-.the: center of the large pin circle andabove thesame-wherebytheoperator is forced-to stop.an-d.start=the-machine by leaning .over themechanism of the. machine in "order. to graspthe beltshi-ppfir; alopriorm machines have been.cu-mbersome andv hardto service due .tothe.relative-..complexity.and sturdiness .required ,ina machine of thistype, and it is a principal'ob'ject of thepresentinvention to. clearlyimproveandat'the same time simplify the driving mechanism for thepincircles, the rolls and thebrushes, at the same time greatlyincreasinglthe speed of the machine and the .output thereof while at thesame time observing .and retaining the advantages 'derived'in the.inventions disclosed'in the above. referred. to patents.

Further objectsof'the invention include the provision of improved means:for liftin'gth'e upper portions of the drivingmeans without "disturbingthe'lower portion of the" machine or any parts of the wool' combingapparatus; jtheprovision of improved means for driving, the brushes"soas to greatly facilitate servicing; assembly, etc, there-- of; andthe provision in general of improved drivingmeans'for a wool combingmachine of the class-described.

Other objects andadvantages of-the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference isto be had-to th'eaccompanying drawings which Fig. 1' is atop plan view of *a combing'machine according to: the presentiinvention;parts being omitted'fonclarity;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the upper:part of thez' combing;machine, parts being'in' section;

Fig. 3 ista section :n.line-'3'3 ofFig. .2; and

Fig. 4 is-asection on line-'4=--4 of Fig; 3;

The. combing machine... of s the: type disclosed herein comprises a'base generally indicated at It; this base being circular and relativelyheavy as it carries the entire combing mechanism, driving means, etc.Adjacent the periphery thereof the base lil oarries a circular ball race12 on which is rotatably mounteda large pin circle plate I4 modes iswell known the large pin circle plate M rotates at a relatively slowspeed on the base Hi in substantial tangency to'a pair of small pincircle plates l6.

Appropriate driving means is arranged to drive these plates at thesamecircumferential speed, this driving means being largely below the topsurface of the base I0, i. e., below the web or base top [8 of Fig. 2.Such driving means is conventional and well known and illustrated inFig. 1 by the-broken lines which illustrate gears 20, 22, 2t, 26, 28.These gears form a gear train from gear 36 on the main shaft 32 fordrivingv the large and small pin circle plates and the wool combingrollers, which rollers are more particularly described in the aboveidentified Patent No. 1,845,351. It is to be noted that the two mainshafts 32 are alike and the two small pin circles are duplicates andeach performs the same operation as the other, doubling the capacity ofthe machine. Theoretically it would be possible to. go on multiplyingthese small pin circles to increase. the capacity of the machine, butpractically such a scheme does not work out, it having been found thatthe double pin circle arrangement is the best.

Wool combing roller is driven by gear 28 and thegear 2 3 drives a pairof-gears'36 each separately driving a spur gear 38, 40- respectively,the latter driving the large pin circle plate M, the gear 38 drivingthesmall pin circle plates IS. The above description shows briefly thecomplete drivingv means .for themachine except for the brushes tobedescribed below; but the brush drive is above the table top l8 whereasthe remainder of the machine drive is below the latter, and thisinvention has to do mainly with the driving mechanism above the tabletopl8.

Each small'pin circleplate I6 is mounted'to 'rotate on a stationarysupport 62 which may be bolted to the table ltfand inside the support 42which'is preferably circular, a column or pillar 44 is bolted to thetable top as by a fiangedli. The pillar 4 5 receives thetop end of shaft32 which terminates adjacent the flange in a clutch member 48. Acorresponding clutch memberfifl is'fixed to the bottom of a verticalshaft 52 rising within the pillar and journaled as shown in Fig. 3terminating in a worm wheel 54. This worm .wheel is engaged by a-zworm56 on a cross 3 shaft 58 journaled in the sides of a box 60, the latterbeing mounted on and forming a part of the pillar 44.

Shaft '58 extends out of the box in a general direction inwardly towardthe central axis of the entire machine and is provided with a pulley 652over which is trained a belt or belts 64 running up to a pulley 66 onthe drive shaft of a motor 68. All of this mechanism is duplicated as atthe other end of the motor and like reference numerals have been appliedto like parts thereof.

The worm shaft 58 is provided with a pulley or sprocket Hi drivinganother shaft 12, shaft 12 likewise being journaled in the box 60parallel to shaft 58 and extending outwardly of the box 69 oppositely tothe extent of shaft 58, terminating in a clutch member 14. Cooperatingwith clutch member 14 there is a separable clutch member 16 mounted on ashaft 18, the latter being journaled in a detachable plate 80 havingflanges bolted as at 82 to the pillar Ml which extends above the box 60a at 84. Thus it is seen that the base 80, shaft l8 and clutch part Itforms an attachment which is easily dismounted from the machine forservicing, repair, and inspection, etc., and it is to be particularlynoted that the drive means for shaft i8 is completely inboard relativeto the pin circles so that the drive therefor is completely protectedand the operator of the machine i protected therefrom. This particulardrive clearly improves and makes more positive the prior art outboardbelt driven mechanisms used heretofore.

Shaft 18 may be provided with a fly wheel 8% if desired, but in anycase, the main purpose of shaft 18 is to vertically reciprocate thebrush 88 which is shown in down position at the right side of Fig. 2 andin up position at the left side thereof, this brush being positionedjust above the tangent point of the large and small pin circles, whichtangent points are indicated at 913. Any mechanism desired or convenientmay be utilized to reciprocate the brush from shaft l8 and in thepresent case a counter-weighted cam crank 92 is utilized for thispurpose. All of the mechanism for the brush drive is mounted in ahousing 84 in turn mounted on the plate 89 so that the entire brushmechanism forms a single unit easily attached and detached from thpillars 44.

The motor 68 is mounted on a bridge 96, the same being supported at itsends on the boxes 84 which form the uppermost parts of pillars M andthis construction provides a strong and rigid mounting for the motor,the gearing and the brushes. At the tops of boxes 84 there are providedpivoted rings 98 on pins 188 which rings may be utilized for theattachment of cables so that the entire drive mechanism above table IS,with the exception of the pin circles, is easily elevated upon removalof the bolts holding flange 46 to the table 18.

In the operation of this machine, the boxes Hi2, see Fig. 1, guide thewool in ropes to the pins I04 of the large pin circle and the brushes 88pound the wool down into the pins at the tangential point 90 so that thewool-combing rollers 34 may perform the combing function in the usualmanner.

The present invention provides a positive drive for all the part of themachine, such drive having been clearly simplified over the prior artand made much easier to control by reason of the new driving mechanismincluding the electric motor; the new drive mechanism has resulted inthe capability of the machine to be driven at a much higher speedwithout vibration and the drive is better protected from the entrance ofdust and dirt than in the prior art.

The present invention also provides a machine in which the drive partsare largely housed with the exception of belt 54, the latter howeverbeing well within the confines of the machine and in fact approachingthe center thereof where it is not necessary for the operator to extendhis hands due to the fact that the motor 58 is easily remotelycontrolled; most of the driving parts may run in oil and the machine islonger lasting and runs longer and faster and with less vibrationwithout the necessity of being taken down or serviced in any way.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we donot wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what we claim is:

1. A machine of the class described comprising a base, a pair of uprightpillars on said base, driving means within the pillars extending intothe base, a bridge connecting the pillars and supported thereon, a motoron the bridge, driving means from the motor to both pillars separately,a detachable bracket (in each pillar, a reciprocating brush on eachbracket, a shaft in each bracket for driving the brush, a clutch memberon said shaft, and a cooperating clutch member operatively arranged oneach pillar for engagement therewith.

2. In a combing machine, the combination of a large pin circle plate, apair of small pin circle plates cooperating therewith, a base therefor,a pillar for each small pin circle plate arranged on the base and risingupwardly therefrom, a shaft in each pillar, said shafts extending onlypart way the length of the pillars, means to drive said shafts, a bridgeextending between said pillars and connecting the same, an electricmotor on the bridge, driving means from the motor to each said shaftdriving means, a brush for each shaft, and separate means driving thepin circles and brushes from said shaft driving means.

3. A combing machine comprising a base, a large pin circle thereon, asmall pin circle cooperating with the large pin circle, a pillar,driving means in the pillar, means to drive the pin circles therefrom,an extending shaft on the pillar, a clutch member on the extending endof said shaft, a brush attachment, means to detachably secure the sameto the pillar, a shaft in the attachment, and a clutch member thereon tocooperate with the first named clutch member, said attachment beinglocated to present the brush to the pins of the circles.

4. A combing machine comprising a base, large pin circle thereon, asmall pin circle cooperating with the large pin circle, a pillar,driving means in the pillar,means to drive the pin circles therefrom, anextending shaft on the pillar, a clutch member on the extending end ofsaid shaft, a brush attachment, means to detachably secure the same tothe pillar, a shaft in the attachment, and a clutch member thereon tocooperate with the first named clutch member, said attachment beinglocated to present the brush to the pins of the circles, a platform onthe pillar, a motor on the platform, and means driving the extendingshaft from the motor.

5. A combing machine comprising a base, a pair of spaced pillars thereonand rising therefrom, a bridge connecting the pillars, a motor on thebridge and supported thereby, a cross shaft in each pillar, means todrive the shafts from the motor, a vertical shaft in each pillar drivenby the cross shaft, and combing devices driven by said vertical shafts.

6. A combing machine comprising a base, a pair of spaced pillars thereonand rising therefrom, a bridge connecting the pillars, a motor on thebridge and supported thereby, a cross shaft in each pillar, means todrive the shafts from the motor, a vertical shaft in each pillar drivenby the cross shaft, combing devices driven by said vertical shafts, abrush, a second cross shaft driven from the first named shaft, and meansdriving the brush from the second named cross shaft.

7. A machine of the class described comprising a base, a large pincircle, a pair of small spaced pin circles disposed within the large pincircle and tangent thereto, a pair of pillars on the base each risingtherefrom within a small pin circle, a cross shaft in each pillar havingtheir axes in general extending approximately toward the centralvertical axis of the base, a bridge on and connecting the pillars andsupported thereon, a motor on the bridge, means driving the shafts fromthe motor, said means being located at the sides of the pillars facingtoward said axis, and shafts in the pillars driven by said means.

WILLIAM E. CHRISTENSEN.

WILLIAM B. SMITH.

JAMES J. SANDY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 466,192 Smith et al Dec. 29, 1891790,757 Shackleton May 23, 1905 1,026,058 Smith May 14, 1912

